Metroid II
by Ender Mahe
Summary: When famed bounty hunter Samus Aran is evacuated, half-dead, to the primary hospital facilities on the Galactic Federation's capital world, questions are raised. With an unknown parasite slowly eating her from the inside, time is running out, and her best hope lies in a frantic, last-minute review of Samus' logs from her first mission on the fringe world of SR-388.
1. Prologue

**Metroid II**

 **Prologue**

"Clear the way!"

Major Wrakham stepped aside as a doctor in scrubs, holding disinfected gloves up in front of him like a shield, scurried down the hall and through the double doors into the operating theater. Wrackham didn't follow, instead turning left and through another door. He scanned the room quickly. It was big, and looked even bigger with the distorting all-white hospital color scheme, swallowing the small group of figures crowded up near the glass wall.

Wrakham stepped in to join the other Galactic federation officers, led by Colonel Feldman, listening to an excited doctor. The colonel held up a hand and the doctor cut off.

"Major, what can you tell me?"

Wrakham took a settling breath. "We know the bare bones, sir, but we're still working out the details." Feldman nodded at him to continue. "Wrakham gestured through the glass to a swarming operating room. Through the crowd of doctors and specialists he could just barely catch a glimpse of orange power armor. "This is the bounty hunter Samus Aran. She was contracted to escort a research team based out of the Biological Space Labs, on a mission to capture and research local wildlife on the planet SR-388. There was some sort of incident on the planet's surface, though we don't have details. The mission was a success, and the research team remained on the B.S.L. Station, while Aran departed in her gunship for parts unknown. However, shortly after takeoff Aran's ship began drifting. She failed to respond to hails and continued to drift further off course and into a nearby asteroid belt. Her ship's automatic safety systems detected imminent impact and ejected the cockpit before being destroyed. The B.S.L. Staff were able to recover the pod, but they reported medical issues beyond their experience. They requested an emergency medical evacuation and did their best to keep her stable. The medical evacuation likewise were . . . uncertain of their diagnosis and delivered her here."

Colonel Feldman nodded. "I see. Doctor, if you would continue?"

"Right." She cleared her throat. "Samus Aran is displaying unprecedented medical conditions. She appears to have contracted a parasitic virus unlike anything we have ever seen. It reproduces extremely quickly, forming in small slicks in the crevices of the power armor, but it is already spreading, and the percentage of surface area that is infected are growing every hour. What it is doing to her beneath the armor I cannot venture to say."

"What's your prognosis?"

"Honestly? We have never seen anything like it. The slicks are spreading faster than we can scrape them off. Even now, we're preparing to surgically remove portions of her armor. But if we don't make a breakthrough soon, I give her a day, two at the outside. We're already preparing quarantine measures for everyone that has come into contact with her, including myself once I get in there. So, if you have any more questions, ask them now."

Feldman frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. "Yes, I do have a request. Before you remove the armor, extract any data and sensor logs and transfer them to Major Wrakham and his people for analysis."

"Sir?"

"The doctor has made it clear, major. Aran is an asset to the Federation, one I will not lose if there is any chance to save her. Put whatever assignments you have on hold. From now on, your only priority is to review those logs and see if you can learn anything about this parasite. Go over every scrap from the very first moment she stepped foot on that planet. With all due respect to the good doctor and her people, but from her report, it sounds like our best hope lies with you."

* * *

Major Wrakham settled into his office chair and pulled up the raw logs on his computer console. There wasn't much to work with. There were logs, a surprising number of them, actually, considering that she worked alone with almost no supervision. But they were voice only. There was a lot of sensor data on the suits system memory, but it was heavily encrypted, and by the time they got cracked it it would be too late. So this was what he had to work with.

He leaned back in his chair, put his boots up on his desk, slipped on his headset and closed eyes. _Well, here goes nothing._


	2. Phase I

**Phase I**

 **Log 4,329**

I have a lot of names. Bounty hunter. Or if you're feeling dramatic, _the_ hunter. Samus Aran. Little Bird. But those names are identifiers, markers, ways to pin down my place and relationship with the universe. There's one name, one title, that I've earned – the space pirates call me the Iron Bitch. It's not a complement. They haven't used anything as primitive as iron in millenia; it's old, brittle, and weak. But somehow, it never quite seems to break.

The Iron Bitch. That one is my favorite.

And that's who the Galactic Federation is asking for later today.

 **Log 4,332**

They want me to kill them all.

That's the mission, in a nutshell. Go to a remote planet so distant and inhospitable it doesn't even have a name, just serial number SR-388, drop down to the surface, and kill every last Metroid.

Metroids again. They don't look like much, just floating, translucent sacks of energy with all the native intelligence of the jellyfish they resemble. But they have two fatal characteristics—they can absorb energy from all life, and they're freakishly hard to kill. Either one, in isolation, and they're a moderately interesting conversation in an academic conference somewhere, but both of them together? First they were the plaything of the Chozo, then the biological weapon of the pirates.

The federation has decided that they're too dangerous a weapon to leave floating around in their caves. They need to die. All of them. And this is their home.

That's where I come in.

I accepted the contract.

 **Log 4,359 – 76 hours since mission start.**

The planet's not much to look at. A lot of brown and shades of gray. The atmospheric makeup and star size/distance ration are in range for liquid water, if just barely. And there's a fair bit of it, too, thrown around in storms. Apparently the frequent hurricanes are too much for the local flora, so whatever life is down there will be in caves beneath all that rock.

So much for the good news.

There are signs of frequent earthquakes, which are bad news in an underground environment. Getting trapped down there is a real possibility. And if it comes to that, I'll be in trouble. The atmosphere itself is poisonous to humans, probably even for me, and the faintly green-tinged air is significantly acidic. Not much of an issue for power armor, but if the armor is breached, that could be a problem.

And, of course, being this remote means no local satellite coverage to repeat signals, and this desolate waste of a planet has a tight asteroid belt caught in its orbit, which will make any call for help a dicey proposition.

Of course, given the threat level these Metroids represent, if I need to call for help down there, my best guess is that it will come by way of nuclear bombardment. That's still an option. Publicly, killing off the Metroids one by one while sparing the rest of the wildlife is the more humane option. I suspect they're worried that even bunker-buster penetrating warheads might not get deep enough to finish the job.

…

Well, there are no orbital defenses, no signs of intelligent life or civilization. No reason to delay. I'm going in.

 **Log 4,361 – 30 minutes since landfall**

It's very dry. With little surface soil able to withstand the battering, the water drains quickly, seeping down between the rocks, and what little is left in standing pools quickly evaporates in the intense heat. Rock crunches under my feet with every step, bone dry.

The sky is very clear, no pollution at all. The only light source on the planet to compete with the stars are the handful of blinking indicators on the gunship . . . there, deactivated. No point in leaving them on, draining battery. I don't' want anyone to find her but me.

Now there's nothing but stars and rock and me.

The Federation's sensor package they installed on my suit is picking up Metroid life signs, but distant and garbled. Time to go down.

 **Log 4,362 – 47 minutes since landfall**

Encountered life. Multiple threat assessments added.

Designation: Yumbo. This close to the hostile surface, protected only by a bend in the cave, life forms are small. Somewhere between an insect and an avian, it appears to feed on plant life. Notable, needle-like protrusion of bone, apparently for self-defense given its diet. Strange. That is a lot of evolutionary commitment to a weapon it does not use for food.

Designation: Seerook. Somewhat larger than the Yumbo, appears to feed on them, with a large, strong mouth. Beneath each wing are a set of three spikes. As the creature does not have grasping limbs to effectively utilize them, they appear to also be an evolved defense mechanism.

Designation: Tsumuri. Appears to be a crustacean, a soft, sticky body encased in a strong, extremely dense bone shell. They slide along the stone, feeding on algae that grows from runoff water from the surface. Blaster fire ineffective—only missiles could crack the shell. Best avoided. I don't like using limited missile stores on generally harmless creatures. Even with micro-fabrication units in my arm cannon allowing storage of raw missile components instead of awkwardly shaped fully ready missiles, I still can't carry very many of them. And I suspect I'll need them against whatever predator has caused the ecosystem to evolve armor-piercing spikes for defense.

 **Log 4,363 – 1 hour 12 minutes since landfall**

It grows increasingly dark as I head deeper beneath the surface. Even the Chozo-developed low-light optics are struggling to generate a clear picture of my surroundings. Many of the caverns are connected by narrow fissures, cracks left from tectonic activity. Sometimes I have to inch through, scraping a path through condensed sand on hands and knees. Already these caves are far deeper than anticipated.

The nukes wouldn't have worked.

It also seems there is a storm on the surface. Water started to flow through the cave, making every surface slick underfoot. Many tsumuri appeared from innumerable crevices and slid along the damp stone with surprising dexterity, lapping up moisture from the walls. After a few minutes the runoff trickled to nothing, and the tsumuri retreated to their crevices.

Discovered first confirmed predatory species when it jumped on me after crawling out of a crevice. Might have hurt me if it hadn't been impaled from above in mid-attack.

Designation: Hornoad. Fairly good-sized creature, perhaps 1 meter tall. Two strong legs with spikes, short stubby tail for balance, and a large mouth with layers of protruding teeth, like a terrestrial shark. Notably, two large white, sightless eyes. Too deep for effective eyesight. Puzzling. The presence of eyes suggests that they evolved on the surface, and were driven down here at some point.

Designation: Rock Icicle. Somewhat smaller than the hornoad, long segmented body encased in exoskeleton with spikes. Appears to hunt by sensing prey beneath it and dropping down on it to kill it. Can survive two arm cannon shots at close range, through badly injured. Escaped by boring down through sand where large rock formations ground away at each other. I suspect tectonic activity is even more frequent than initial analysis predicted.

I . . . don't like this creature. It must commit itself completely to kill its prey in a single swift strike, or be left awkwardly scrabbling in the dirt, helpless. It did not appear to possess any means of combing back up, only of digging even deeper. Each meal, each successful attack, takes it to a deeper cave, and a deeper one still, until it discovers something it cannot kill, or makes it way to bedrock and starves. Or molten rock, and immolates itself.

It only goes down.

 **Log 4,364 – 3 hours 4 minutes since landfall**

I've discovered large pools of standing liquid, strongly acidic, but apparently well adapted to by local wildlife. Pools fed by water runoff? Is this the bottom? No – there must be some other drainage, or the whole cavern would be flooded.

More wildlife appears to feed off these pools.

Designation: Gawron. Small nesting creatures based near acid pools. Very territorial. Members will fling themselves suicidally at interlopers with rings of spikes around a large mouth. No apparent means of rejoining the hanging nest.

Designation: Acid pool. Strongly acidic. Foundation of local ecosystem, storing surface nutrients from rain runoff. Small creatures like to nest nearby and startle passerby. Corrosive viscous substance, leaves marks on power armor boots that must be cleaned off immediately. Tinted discoloration remains after wiping off with sand.

Designation: Moheek. Marine based life, thrives in acid pools. Harmless, unless provoked by being stepped on. Capable of emitting powerful electrical impulses.

I'm starting to make sense of this ecosystem. It bears some resemblance to tide pools, where strong defenses while waiting, conserving energy, spell survival, punctured by moments of frantic speed when food and water is available. This is likely why the predators have all focused on ambush tactics, waiting for those few moments when prey appears to feed.

Running low on missiles, and suit power is growing dangerously low due to the atmosphere and turning aside the spiky shells of wildlife. With no sight, creatures rely heavily on touch, and the fiercely competitive ecosystem makes touching anything dangerous.

Still no sign of the Metroids, though the signal is getting stronger.

…

The light-gathering optics failed completely. There is no light whatsoever. Turned on headlamps, though they alter depth perception and heavily restrict peripheral vision.

 **Log 4,365 – 4 hours since landfall**

Discovered more links in the food chain.

Designation: Gravitt. Small, crustacean, soft body in shell with bony spikes on top. Burrows in small clumps of sand, difficult to detect. Does not, quite, penetrate power armor boot when stepped on at an angle. Do not recommend stepping flatly on it. Appears to feed on micro-organisms strained from rain runoff by the sand.

Designation: Gullug. Bat-like creature, though with a large spike protruding from each leg. Like the rock icicle, uses its own body weight to increase force of spike weapon. Small mouth, small grasping appendage suggest that while it may once have preyed on gravitts, possibly before they developed their shell defense, they are now carrion feeders and use their spike attack to crack shells of larger creatures.

…

Every environmental sign indicates the presence of a large, armored apex predator, but that seems unlikely. All such large carnivores metabolize considerable amounts of energy, which would make them the ideal prey for Metroids. Considering the territorial range such an apex predator requires, they should only exist in smaller numbers and been quickly annihilated. But if they are gone, where are the Metroids? And has anything evolved a defense to them I can utilize?

 **Log 4,366 – 4 hours 17 minutes since landfall**

I understand now.

I had just entered a side chamber when my lights caught movement. Just another hornoad, but for once it was not attacking. Instead it was prodding at some sort of egg. Large, almost a meter lengthwise and half that in height. Brown with flecks of green. The egg cracked as a spike penetrated the shell from the inside and impaled the hornoad. It struggled, and with only a single claw in its side should have made an easy escape. Instead it howled and crumpled in place, almost as if the life was being sucked out of it.

I have seen that phenomena before – Metroids.

The shell continued to crack and it emerged.

Designation: Alpha Metroid. The Metroids have an evolutionary life cycle. The floating, bulbous creatures seem to be an initial larval stage. At some point they go inert and molt their previous skin. Physical appearance is substantially altered. The core of the metroid is a round semi-transparent membrane encasing a single red nucleus. The other three absorbed or consumed in the evolutionary transition? Possibly similar to differentiating cells. Distinguishing features include a hardened carapace covering the top of its core, two red eyes at the front, though they are unlikely to be their primary sense, a frontally located mouth, and three enlarged fangs ringing the mouth.

Alpha Metroids retain the ability to hover, though they are somewhat slower and more ponderous than larval stage. They instinctively seek to shield their core from harm, marking it as a weak point. Evolving to a heavier, more solid form seems to have eliminated some of their seeming immunity to kinetic and energy-based weapons. Side effect from losing much of the membrane coating? Attacks aggressively, seeking to ram with shell-based spikes and latch on with its mouth to exposed appendages. The pincers are strong enough to strain power armor's left arm. Concussive force against rocks can stun an Alpha Metroid long enough to get it to release its hold. Fire direct missile hits and three near misses enough to crack the membrane over the core. Greatly weakened and turn mostly docile after core membrane is cracked, losing ability to fly. Stop moving approximately three minutes after membrane puncture. Death approximately four minutes after membrane puncture.

Evolutionary trigger—unknown.

Time to transition from larval stage to Alpha stage—unknown.

Additional stages—unknown.

…

I don't like it. Alpha's are big and durable, but not big enough or durable enough to compensate for the loss of its immunity to beam and concussion weapons. And not big enough to shape an entire evolutionary development of an ecosystem. The computer seems to agree, calling it an Alpha. That seems to imply there are other, more advance forms out there, and that this is merely a transition per—what?

…

Earthquake. Minor shifting of rock formations, no immediate cave-ins.

Coincidence.

…

the sensor has gotten deep enough to get an accurate count of Metroid life signs in the region. 39. 39 Metroids to kill. Now there are 38.

 **Log 4,367 – 4 hours 32 minutes since landfall**

Dead ends. I've explored every arm branching off the primary shaft out to the tiniest crevice. Maybe there is a neighboring tunnel nearby and the scanner is picking up metroids from it? Back to the surface.

 **Log 4,368 – 4 hours 37 minutes since landfall**

Reached the primary shaft. The earthquake must have breached a lower chamber somewhere, flooding it with acid, because the acid pools has drained away, exposing more of the primary shaft. Metroid life signs are stronger. They're here.

Descending.

38.


	3. Phase II

**Phase 2**

 **Log 4,369 – 4 hours 56 minutes since landfall**

The descent is slippery as trace viscous fluid clings to every surface. Ambient temperature climbing to 27 degrees Celsius. Ambient humidity climbing as well. Strong indications of volcanic activity, possibly explaining the earthquakes. New life forms discovered.

Designation: Needler. Aquatic life form, a small semi-metallic core with many spiky bone protrusions. Like most life forms present, these bone spurs are surprisingly sharp and hardened, capable of preventing environmental suits and even armored plating, evolved to defend against Metroid predation. Despite adaptation to aquatic environments, still capable of slow movement when outside of its natural habitat. Has a tendency to cling to crevices in the rock face out of sight, particularly in convenient handholds. Capable of punching through power armor finger joints. Resealing mechanism remains undamaged and effective.

Designation: Chute Leech. Reminiscent of terrestrial manta rays. Long, very flat bodies with a small mouth at the bottom. Floats silently down on unsuspecting prey. Without the force to drive a spike through armor, it relies on the excretion of acids to penetrate victim's defenses. Fond of descending on wounded prey, such as those that have fallen while scaling rock faces. Power armor sufficient to withstand acid, but only with considerable energy drain. Three arm cannon shots sufficient to neutralize. Four arm cannon shots kills it.

No trace remains after fourteen arm cannon shots.

 **Log 4,370 – 5 hours 39 minutes since landfall**

Encountered the acid, once again blocking the main shaft. There are several side passages to hunt through . . . I'm picking up a strange sound. Occasional high-pitched frequencies interpreted by the armor's sensors as tones. They vary in pitch and timing with no discernible pattern, which suggests a natural phenomena, but are also being picked up on the electro-magnetic spectrum, which would indicate that it's artificial.

It grates on y nerves, making it difficult to maintain focus.

 **Log 4,371 – 5 hours 57 minutes since landfall**

Found a large cave system with multiple chambers. Ambient temperature has risen to 33 degrees Celsius, humidity has dropped. The abundant plant life of the main shaft is mostly gone. Far below I can see molten magma flows. It hurts my eyes to look at it. I think I'll head up and work my way down from the top.

 **Log 4,372 – 6 hours 12 minutes since landfall**

Found the molt husk of a larva Metroid outside a side passage.

 **[WARNING. Major power armor damage detected. Diverting power from all non-critical systems.]**

 **Log 4,373 - ? hours since landfall**

There were two of them.

The other's molt husk was at the back of the chamber, possibly hidden there. The second Alpha waited until I was engaged with the first, then hit me from behind while the first clamped onto my arm cannon. I killed it, but that second Alpha rammed me right off the cavern's edge.

I don't remember falling. I must have landed on top of it, because it was lying next to me, half dead, when I woke up. It's all dead now.

36 left.

Three, maybe four broken ribs. Concussion. It hurt more than it should have because the armor is low on power and most of the cavities where it stores the raw components for the arm cannon's missile fabricator are empty, so their extra padding is gone.

Not sure how long I was out. The computer took a hit, too. Its internal clock get reset. What time it is outside makes no difference down here, but it bothers me not knowing.

Maybe it's the concussion.

I'm in no shape to fight another Metroid. Not sure if I can climb all the way back out in this condition.

…

The strange signal is stronger this far down. Closer. Definitely artificial. If it's artificial, it must be powered. I need power. I'll go looking for it soon. Need to rest for another few minutes.

 **Log 4,374 - ? hours since landfall**

More creatures. Drawn to the heat of the lava, I think. They live in some sort of nest, almost a beehive. Swarms of insects with wings just large enough to fly with heavy spiked stingers. Yes, nameless Federation researcher updating the galactic xenobiology archive, like everything else on this nameless planet, they can pierce power armor. Not everywhere, just in the joints. You may also be interested to discover that their barbs are also poisonous to humans. Symptoms of elevated fever, traces of delirium, and the computer insists that it alters mood as well. Yeah, it does. By stabbing you with stingers. It's not chemical. Log off—what? Oh. Designation: Mumbo.

 **Log 4,375 - ? hours since landfall**

Mumbo symptoms short-lived. Effect on humans within the generally accepted genetic variance margins estimated to be somewhat longer lasting, possibly permanent. I found the source of the signal. Ruins, possibly ancient. Dating results difficult to interpret due to extremely isolated and dry conditions. Power systems still active, including powered external defensive platforms.

Designation: Wallfire. Energy-based weaponry, wall mounted, and hooked directly into the power net. Relatively powerful attacks, but poor target designation systems and virtually no armor defenses.

The implications of this large, walled construct are bad. The metals of its construction are not native to this planet. They are consistent with Chozo ruins discovered on other planets.

The Chozo were here, once, but what were they doing? It doesn't make sense. This place is big and it looks like a temple, a non-critical structure, which means a larger, long-term settlement. But why go to the effort and expense of building it all the way down here? There was no trace of them on the surface, so this wasn't just a research wing of a surface colony. No, the only reason to put it down here and hollow out this cave is for secrecy or defense. In their time there was no one to steal their secrets, so it was for defense . . . against what?

These turrets, they are weak, relatively unsophisticated, and defenseless – the definition of wildlife control. But they'd be useless against the Metroids. So what could possibly be strong enough to drive back Chozo power-armored warriors, but weak enough to be held back by wildlife defenses and stone walls? One thing is certain; there weren't any Chozo venturing outside those walls. The guns targeted me even in Chozo armor, however modified. They're set to shoot at anything that moves.

 **Log 4,376**

I've disabled the timer. It was unhelpful and irritating.

This place was definitely a temple. More bad news, though—the place was still sealed. I had to blow through several doors with the last of my missiles to gain access. So whatever happened here wasn't a single disaster—there was a long-term threat or problem that they couldn't deal with, they sealed up the temple, and retreated . . . somewhere. Deeper, probably.

I've gone through their murals, and there's not much to go on. There was definitely _some_ sort of threat depicted, looming, ominous, and omnipresent, but no real depiction of what it is. It's possible the threat was still poorly understood when they were forced to seal the building and fall back. They may have been hoping for more stragglers to show up, because they left some things behind. A power station, refilling the power suit's energy supply, as well as the raw materials to manufacture missiles and bombs. I guess their long-gone hopes were fulfilled in the end.

I also found an upgrade to the armor, the spider ball. When I curl up into the morph ball, it lets me cling to rock surfaces. Best guess, it magnetically charges whatever I'm next to, but like a lot of thins with the Chozo, I just don't know how it works.

It's strange, sitting here in one of their temples, reading their carved records, looking at their magnificent statues, wearing their armor, even having known some of them, and I still have so little understating of their culture and technology. Maybe resting in this dusty tomb is making me melodramatic, and I won't deny that sleep deprivation is a factor here, but . . . it scares me sometimes. Even using missile, I had to curl up in morph ball to get through the cracks in the wall. It doesn't seem physically possible to condense matter to the point the volume of both me and my power armor drops to about a third, a tiny little ball, and my density triples to maintain overall mass. Not to mention how the suit continues to operate like that. The only possible solution I can think of is that my armor is . . . is somehow liquefying me, and literally rebuilding my body from the raw components whenever I uncurl.

Insane.

But then, I don't feel like I'm spinning inside it, I'm just . . . there, in the middle, somehow feeling my surroundings. I don't' know if I can speak like that, if I even have a mouth to speak with! Only, when I left morph ball in here, my ribs weren't broken anymore. And the suit already constructs bombs and missiles on the fly from the raw components forming the intermediary ablative armor layer, so . . .

…

Computer, threat assessment update. Designation: Mumbo. Venom more powerful than initially indicated, mentally altering affects likewise longer lasting than initially reported. Track this and intervening logs for excessive, pointless verbalizing. Log end.

 **Log 4,377**

Using the newly acquired suit capacity, designation Spider Ball, I was able to more fully explore the temple's surroundings. Found a small crevice, with an Alpha Metroid hidden all the way at the back. Eliminated. 35 remaining. Continuing search pattern.

 **Log 4,378**

34.

 **Log 4,379**

Once again, shortly after a Metroid is destroyed another earthquake hits. If the acid in the main shaft has lowered once more, I must consider the possibility that the Metroids are somehow controlling either the earth, the acid, or both. All are highly perturbing. Possible indications that the Metroids are actively seeking to interfere with my mission. Did those two in the cavern deliberately attempt an ambush? Were the other two fleeing, attempting to hide after learning that two Alpha's together can't stop me?

Difficult to say. Anthropomorphizing animal life is a well-known human defect. Need more information.

Returning to primary shaft.


	4. Phase III

**Phase III**

 **Log 4,380**

The primary shaft has narrowed considerably. Tectonic shifting has collapsed some sections, which I have to blow open with bombs. At other times the way is blocked with soft sand, which has to be painstaking dug through. Frequently I can only proceed in morph ball, clinging to the walls with the spiderball to avoid sudden fissures dropping into pits with flowing magma at the bottom. Fortunately, I discovered another large cavern branching off from the primary shaft. Less fortunately, I've also discovered more hostile life forms.

Designation: Senjoo. Medium-sized flying creature with a single eye and many spikes, as well as two powerful grasping limbs with large talons. It appears to hunt Tsumuri, but will not hesitate to attack any small objects crawling along the cave wall. Grasping limbs are strong enough to overcome the spiderball's grip, but the Senjoo's wings are not powerful enough to carry excessive mass, and will instinctively drop burdens before being dragged down by them.

Designation: Blob Thrower. Carnivorous plant life, capable of sensing nearby movement, though whether by sound, temperature variance, or some other means is still uncertain. It is frequently found beneath Senjoo hunting grounds, feeding off scraps dropped by the flying predators, which suggests it may be borderline ambulatory, laying down roots in one direction and pulling them up from the other in a projected weeks-long process. This straddles the line between flora and fauna. The blob thrower hunts by forcefully ejecting small but very potent globules of acid to finish off Senjoo prey, or any Senjoo foolish enough to pursue dropped food, then retrieves the corpse over the period of several days with creeper vines, applying further acid to break prey down into small enough chunks to drag to its mouth. Interestingly, application of sufficient force and trauma kills it completely – it cannot have a dead limb or branch while remaining alive – which further suggests a limited central nervous system. Its acid significantly depletes power armor reserves. Arm cannon fire is effective. Missile fire more effective. After some investigation, it has been conclusively demonstrated that the Blob Thrower is flammable.

I harbor some concern for the computer's integrity since the energy power shunt while fighting the Alpha Metroids. . . Blob Throwers? Really?

 **Log 4,381**

More of that strange sound. More Chozo ruins? Investigating.

 **Log 4,382**

Threat assessments added.

Designation: Autoad. Mechanical construct designed to emulate the native hornoad species, from appearance to behavior. They wander around the ruins of another large Chozo facility.

I find the existence of this creature troubling. It is clearly a Chozo creation, a weapon designed to fit as seamlessly, as unobtrusively, into a native ecosystem as possible. But . . . why? And why build what I now suspect to be an entire manufacturing plant to produce these artificial creatures? This is a clear escalation from their earlier efforts, closer to the surface, to keep the natural animal life at bay.

I begin to suspect that much of the loose sand and rock I had to blast through was backfill, a deliberate effort to block surface access even as the Chozo buried themselves ever deeper, hollowing out new caverns.

What were they afraid of? What so relentlessly hunted them ever deeper, able to overcome their warriors with ease but clearly held at bay, at least for a time, by primitive animal control and then mid-level predators? I don't know. I wonder how impaired my thoughts are by sleep deprivation.

…

I will seek shelter in the ruins and try to sleep.

 **Log 4,383**

Threat assessment added.

Designation: Autrack. Entrenched, armored defensive emplacement firing high-powered energy weapons. Just as with the temple Wallfire turrets, they are programmed to attack any sign of movement, not discriminating even for Chozo energy signatures. These weapons remain powered and active, yet proved ultimately ineffective. Unlike the temple above, the factory shows clear signs of violence. A section of the wall has been blown open.

Investigating.

 **Log 4,384**

The factory has been ransacked. It appears that the factory was breached, causing a panicked retreat, yet somehow the factory itself remained running, unimpeded, for some time afterwards. Large numbers of autoads aimlessly roam the hallways, attacking on sight. The upper section appears to remain sealed. I'll exit and try to climb up to the roof. The Chozo, descended from avians, often favored roof access points.

[WARNING: Power Suit energy low.]

[WARNING: Missile reserves low]

[WARNING: Power Suit energy very low.]

[WARNING: Missile reserves critical.]

[WARNING: Missile reserves depleted.]

[WARNING: Bomb reserves low.]

[WARNING: Power Suit energy critical. Multiple suit breaches detected.]

[WARNING: Bomb reserves critical.]

WARNING: Bomb reserves depleted.]

 **Log 4,385**

T-threat . . . assessment added.

Des . . . designation: Arachnus. Apparently I've . . . found . . . the native apex predator. Large. S-surprisingly mobile . . . armored shell. Beams and missiles . . . ineffective. Only bombs could p-penetrate thick hide. Four limbs. Sharp claws.

It . . it seemed to have . . . absorbed the Chozo power armor upgrade. D-designation: Springball. It's mine now. Allows me to . . . to jump while in morph ball. Worries . . . me. Arachnus doesn't have power armor . . . but can emulate by . . . pulling stubby limbs and head . . . into armored shell . . . Suggests at least . . . some aspect of these . . . suit upgrades are genetic . . . rewriting for compatibility. Possibly the creature is . . . part mechanical . . . as well.

H-how . . . how much of me . . . has been rewritten?

No, can't stop . . . can't think. Multiple suit breaches. Toxic atmosphere. Burning in wounds. Power so low . . . even oxygen scrubbers disabled. Into reserve air supply. Won't last long. Already feel CO2 levels rising. Clouding judgment. Must . . . find power . . .

…

…

…

[Log auto-terminated.]

[Verbal activity detected. No listener present. Auto-recording log entry.]

 **Log 4,385.1**

Talk. Talk through. Help focus.

Yes! Still sealed . . . but no missiles. Need . . . sharp. Heavy.

…

…

…

[log auto-terminated.]

[Verbal activity detected. No listener present. Auto-recording log entry.]

 **Log 4,385.2**

Tsu . . . Tum . . . Smuri spike . . . maybe . . . mph . . . ungh . . . hnnnngya! . . .

. . .

. . .

Yes. Seal broken . . . statue . . . empty? No . . . no . . . look. Find it! Maybe . . . storage. Dig. Find.

Find.

Find.

Find!

[log auto-terminated.]

 **Log 4,386**

…

When the lower levels were breached, it seems that at least some of the Chozo grabbed what supplies they could and fled. The statute I discovered had had its upgrade removed. Fortunately, they fled in such haste that they were unable to take all of their supplies with them. Half-buried in a storage area behind the statue I found a power armor upgrade. Designation: Varia Armor.

The changes to my armor are substantial. The suit's overall mass has gone up significantly, in part due to the addition of an additional layer of ablative armor, which also sealed the suit's breaches, and greatly expanded shoulder pauldrons, which store both missile and bomb raw materials as well as energy storage capacitors.

With the varia suit's small influx of system power, I was able to curl into morph ball, assuring that no suit breaches remained, and lowering overall energy requirements. This restored partial functionality to onboard medical systems and oxygen scrubbers. I wedged myself into the smallest hold I could find.

…

I am not sure if I fell asleep or passed out. Once again, running at minimal power means I have no way to tell how much time has past.

Maybe hours . . . days . . . centuries, and the Galactic Federation is nothing but bones. Maybe they thought me dead and nuked the surface, and my ship, to dust. Maybe I'll get out and they won't recognize me, after having my DNA rewritten so many times. Hell, even with the varia suit's added mass, the morph ball functions identically . . . does that mean _my_ mass has been depleted, consumed? What will be left of me if I ever get to remove this armor?

…

…

Clearly some traces of delirium remain from exposure to native atmosphere. Regardless, I need to move out soon. Even with the varia suit's added energy, suit power remains very low. And in my . . . mentally uncertain state, it remains possible that I will revert to siege mentality and become paralyzed, unable to complete the mission.

I am not afraid.

I will not be stopped.

I will leave this place and find another energy reserve.

I am the Iron Bitch, and I will kill the Metroids. Every. Last. One.

34 Metroids left to kill.

 **Log 4,387**

Power station found.

An Alpha Metroid penetrated the Chozo facility. Pursuing me or seeking a place to hide. Irrelevant now. 33. If there are more upgrades in this place, they will be on the lower levels, those the Chozo did not have time to clean out before they died.

Investigating.

 **Log 4,388**

I've discovered what finally stopped factory production of autoads. Beneath the main factory floor the coolant pipes have ruptured, leaving standing pools of water. Knowing Chozo technology, it is probably the cleanest water on the planet. May need to return if the suit's water reclamation filters reach capacity. They are rated for three weeks as a completely self-sustained system, but with only a vague idea of how long I've been here, and with no reliable way to know how long it will take to complete the mission, I may require a new source of water.

With the coolant pipes now mostly clear, I was able to fit through in morph ball and gain access to the lower levels beneath the heavy industrial equipment.

I also found another suit upgrade in what seems to have been the engineering department. Designation: High Jump Boots. Improved musculatory actuators in the armor's legs. Effects are self-explanatory.

 **Log 4,389**

More evidence of violence. I found what appears to have been living quarters for factory workers converted into a barracks. The door was blown open by unknown means, though carbon scoring patterns are consistent with Chozo power-armor-produced missiles.

This raises many more questions. The Chozo were physically incapable of civil war. Culturally, philosophically, it would be anathema to them. And yet . . . the evidence mounts. Autrack's set to fire on Chozo energy signatures. Doors blown open with Chozo missiles. Even the Chozo warriors' unwillingness to go out and face the threat directly, they all point to a hostile Chozo force.

Yet contradictory evidence remains. The wallfire turrets at the upper temple were effective enough to allow an orderly evacuation, which would not be possible against Chozo power armor. The autoads manufactured here would be likewise as ineffective against Chozo as they would be against Metroids.

It is also disturbing that the evidence suggests this factory was evacuated of all civilians and run by a small military detachment, which converted the factory to produce a weapon, however environmentally friendly.

This was, effectively, a makeshift weapons factory. A Chozo weapons factory.

What could have driven them to this?

 **Log 4,390**

Bits and pieces of power armor remain, but there are no bodies. Though in line with Chozo customs, it is very unlikely that they managed to return and bury their dead. No, the bodies were either removed, or consumed. Once again, the evidence is inconsistent with a hostile Chozo force, which would have reclaimed all power armor for reuse, and with the Metroids, which drain all life but have no interest in the resulting carcass. Even after decay, bones would remain.

There is something more down here.

Designation: X.

Chozo defenders appear to have been guarding a passage back towards some sort of control room.

Investigating.

 **Log 4,391**

Just before the control room was another Alpha Metroid. 32. Beyond was the factory's control center, now totally dysfunctional. It also contained a Chozo statue, offering a weapon none of the warriors below had the opportunity to use in their defense.

Designation: Wave Beam. Like most Chozo technology, it is elegantly simple in design and function, but so far in advance of Federation technology as to be beyond understanding, much less duplicating. It emits huge bursts of energy invisible to the naked eye that propagate as a sine wave, ignoring intervening inanimate matter, like walls or even armor, and continuing until it encounters organic material, where it slows dramatically and dumps excess, usually lethal, energy. It is no surprise that such an awesome, terrible weapon was not a standard power armor feature, whose arm cannon they generally regarded as a self-defense weapon.

Though it can be used otherwise.

The Metroid's presence was, conceivably, to prevent the wave beam from being discovered and used. Further, if limited, evidence of at least pseudo-intelligence. The evidence remains . . . unconvincing.

I have cleared the factory, yet Metroid life signs readings remain strong. Returning to the cave.

 **Log 4,392**

After considerable exploration, I found a small crevice tucked away near the very top of the cavern. Inside, a single Alpha Metroid hugged the innermost wall. 31.

…

Was it hiding from me?

 **Log 4,393**

Beyond the factory ruins is a side tunnel that drops downwards dramatically. Metroid life signs are strong

Investigating.

 **Log 4,394**

Encountered two Alpha Metroids. Both fled immediately, emitting audible tones. Primitive communication?

Pursuing.

[WARNING: Major power suit damage detected.]

[WARNING: Missile reserves low.]

 **Log 4,395**

Threat assessment added.

Designation: Gamma Metroid. The Two Alpha's fled to a third Alpha which had encased itself in a molting husk. As I approached it tore itself free, though in response to my presence, the other two Alpha's, or their cries remains uncertain.

Significantly larger than Alphas, its small beak has expanded into a larger jaw. The two lower fangs are now large enough to be considered tusks, while the upper fang has become a curved horn. Armor plates are significantly expanded, covering more of the vulnerable membrane-wrapped core in its belly. The Alpha's stubby legs are likewise expanded into four, spike-tipped legs, though they remain too short to effectively maneuver on the ground. The Gamma Metroid struggles to remain airborne, even more powerful, and more ponderous, than the Alphas.

The gammas also possess a new attack, demonstrating instinctive control over some sort of internal bio-electrical reaction, somewhat similar to an electric eel. Emitted shocks do heavy damage to power armor systems. Like the Alphas, Gammas maintain their effective immunity to beam weapons, even the wave beam. Missiles remain the most effective option, though the hardened membrane requires up to ten missiles to crack.

The Alphas at first held back, then attempted to aid the Gamma. Once it fell, they again attempted to flee. In vain. 28 Metroids remain.

…

The computer is definitely damaged. This should be designated Beta Metroid. It is not allowing me to override the designation.

[WARNING: Power Armor levels critical.]

[WARNING: Missile reserves depleted.]

 **Log 4,396**

There was another Gamma in a passage I bypassed earlier, with an Alpha hiding behind it. Ambushed me on the way out. I suspect it deliberately laid in wait, instead of helping the others, in the hope of catching me off guard. It rammed me off the edge, then tried to crush me beneath its weight. Without the Varia armor, it would have succeeded.

I am forced to this conclusion because as the Gamma died, the Metroid life signs in this area faded, and once more a tremor hit almost immediately thereafter. If the acid pools in the primary shaft have lowered again, my theory on the Metroid's control over and use of the acid as a defensive measure will be confirmed.

Heading back to the ruins to recharge. Can't risk fighting another Metroid without a high missile count.

26.

 **Log 4,397**

Theory confirmed. They are, at least after a fashion, intelligent.

Mission priorities unchanged.

Descending.


	5. Phases IV - VII

**Phase IV**

 **Log 4,398**

I didn't get far before more acid pools blocked the path. As expected, a side passage split off, and once again Metroid life signs are strong. Very strong. The passage splits in two, one arm sloping upwards, the other downwards. I don't want to backtrack, so I'm going up.

 **Log 4,399**

The sound is back. More Chozo ruins. For perhaps the first time, the thought does not reassure me. Ambient temperature rising marginally, humidity rising significantly. No indications of cause immediately evident.

Investigating.

 **Log 4,400**

It's a weapons factory. Not a conversion, not a last-minute, desperation measure. A designed, purpose-built Chozo weapons manufacturing plant. I . . . don't know what to think. Internal security drones dart around, attacking incessantly. Designation: TPO. Automated workers flitter from long-shattered machine to machine, endlessly and hopelessly trying to bring them back online to build more and deadlier weapons. Designation: Proboscum.

There are several observation posts, hardened glass portals overlooking deep shafts. A testing ground of some sort.

…

One of the viewports was shattered, broken from the inside. Somehow, they put too much animal in their weapons, pushed too hard, and lost control of them.

There was no orderly retreat here—there was a slaughter.

I've located two more upgrades. The first, Designation: Space Jump, improves and further powers the light maneuvering jets on my bad, designed for minor course corrections, to give them enough power to significantly improve my vertical range far beyond even the High Jump Boots. Clearly it was used by these . . . these weapons manufactures to enter and exit their testing grounds below to check on their experiments.

Likewise, the Plasma Beam was doubtlessly intended to put down any test subjects that grew . . . unruly.

…

…

Two Gamma Metroids encountered and eliminated. 24.

Metroid life signs are strong below.

Moving to engage.

 **Log 4,401**

Ambient temperature and humidity both very high. Whatever they were testing prior, the Metroids are clearly at home in this sort of environment. They seem to emit some sort of webs which choke the area. In this sort of ideal environment, I would expect to see high levels of native life, but there is surprisingly only normal levels. Are the Metroids killing them off?

The webs seem to radiate out from a central point, a honeycomb-like structure.

A hive. Moving to engage.

[WARNING: Energy levels dropping.]

[WARNING: Missile levels dropping.]

[WARNING Missile levels low.]

[WARNING: Energy levels low.]

[WARNING: Missile levels critical.]

 **Log 4,402**

Two Alpha Metroids destroyed. 6 Gamma Metroids destroyed.

The hive and surrounding tunnels are clear. Earthquake signals drop in acid levels.

16.

…

16.

 **Phase V**

 **Log 4,403**

This area has clearly been submerged in acid for some time. Very little animal life is present, with one exception.

Designation: Octroll. Clearly more at home while submerged, this creature nevertheless retains sufficient mobility in atmosphere to be a threat. Like most life forms on this planet, it relies on ambush tactics to stay hidden from larger predators and to hunt. They favor small crevices, folding its soft, malleable yet muscular form in on itself before uncoiling rapidly, like a snake, and latching on to prey with four surprisingly powerful sucker-tipped arms.

The plasma beam virtually disintegrates it, making closer inspection impractical.

…

This place is almost eerily empty.

Acid blocks the way further, which means a Metroid is hiding here somewhere, but life signs signals are weak.

A single rear-guard, meant to slow me down, to buy time? For new, even more dangerous evolutions?

…

No, I can't overestimate them. They're animals. Dangerous and somewhat intelligent, yes, but just animals that need to be put down.

 **Log 4,404**

This tunnel is exceptionally long and narrow. Even now, I am struggling forward in morph ball. It is difficult to tell how far I've come, how deep, or even if this tunnel is moving up or down. If this is a delaying tactic, it is an effective one.

 **Log 4,405**

A Gamma.

15.

 **Phase VI**

 **Log 4,406**

Little progress before another acid blockade. Pursuing Metroids down side passage. The area has little animal life. Appears to be another Chozo weapons test biome, this one a swamp instead of a sauna.

 **Log 4,407**

Gamma and Alpha. More evidence of webs, though more than there should be for just two Metroids.

…

They're running.

13.

 **Phase VII**

 **Log 4,408**

Even the primary shaft has narrowed to a small fissure leading ever deeper. Significant backfill and loose rock require frequent stops to blast open a path. The path is half-flooded with water that descends with me as I blast open a channel. There may be another Chozo ruin ahead.

…

I fell asleep while in morph ball.

 **Log 4,409**

I've stumbled across the largest chamber yet, by a significant margin. The cavern is dominated by a huge, black tower. Flying creatures have burrowed into the tower's outer layer, like maggots in the tower's dead flesh. Still-functional floodlights atop the tower rotate sullenly, sending shadows skittering across the walls.

It's a fortress. Occasionally, a flying hard-shelled creature will wander into range of one of the handful of still-functional wallfire and Autrak emplacements coating the tower, puncturing the dark with a flash of light and a brief howl of pain.

This was the Chozo's final line of defense.

The Metroids are here in fore. Time to go hunting.

 **Log 4,410**

I've blasted my way into the base of the tower and located a power station. This will serve as my base of operations, from which I will mount small expeditions into hostile territory.

 **Log 4,411**

I've made my way up the tower, destroying debris and encroaching, nesting predators. There is a full armory here, with the spazer beam, wave beam, and plasma beam.

The Chozo went to war . . . and they lost.

 **Log 4,412**

The passages to the top of the tower, the most secure position, are blocked. It looks like the Chozo collapsed the passage as a last-ditch defensive effort. I can hear something heavy moving above, which means it's not a metroid. Another Arachnus? The last one made its lair in Chozo ruins.

Regardless, it means there is an access point. The roof?

Investigating.

 **Log 4,413**

The ascent has proven difficult. The Chozo's initial efforts to preserve native wildlife here mean there are large numbers of senjoo and other flying creatures that choke the cavern and must be exterminated to progress upwards.

Even with the High Jump Boots and the Space Jump, rocky outcrops sturdy enough to support both me and my power armor are few and far between, requiring precise jumps and careful landings.

Twice the rock has crumbled beneath me. Once I overshot. The Space Jump maneuvering jets have compensated and let me land on my feet. About halfway up I jumped to a crack in the cavern wall, and it crumpled inward, revealing a narrow side passage. A crude attempt to disguise this passage?

Pointless.

None of them can escape. The Metroids turned the Chozo into the monsters they tried so hard not to become, then killed them. I am not a Chozo, just one of their creations, but I will finish what they started. I will exterminate them.

 **Log 4,414**

Gamma destroyed.

12 more.

 **Log 4,415**

Continued ascent. The senjoos, pincher flies, and halzyn are thick, constantly fighting for territory. They are no match for the plasma beam. The roof access has likewise been blocked from the inside, but three-quarters of the way up a hole was blown through the outer wall.

Investigating.

 **Log 4,416**

The Chozo are dead. They made their final stand here, where they were slaughtered. Dozens of them, their bones still wrapped in power armor. There were no injuries, no shattered skeletons or broken armor. The life was sucked out of them, one by one.

The Metroids.

The Metroids did this.

And whoever threat X was, the Metroids finished them off, too.

All that remains is to—

Rooooargh!

Wha-unnnngh

[Log auto-terminated to conserve processing power.]

[Warning: Power Armor energy low.]

[WARNING: major blunt force trauma detected.]

[WARNING: temperature exceeding armor tolerance thresholds.]

[WARNING: Power Armor energy critical.]

[Warning: Missile reserves low.]

 **Log 4,417**

Threat assessment added.

Designation: Zeta Metroid. Smaller than the Gamma, and no longer capable of flight. The spindly limbs are now oversized for its relatively small body, but are quick and powerful. Between its two arms, two legs, and tail, it is highly maneuverable, capable of climbing on walls and even the ceiling. It is also strong, able to throw even the weight of a power-armored form across the room.

It has developed a segmented neck, which supports a larger head with a large plated covering. It retains the ability to emit electrical discharges, and has developed venom sacks of potent acid in its neck, which it spits with great accuracy.

The larval membrane remains in the Zeta's chest, though like earlier forms, it retains only a single red nucleus core. This remains its most vulnerable point, but continues to be hardened with each evolution. The Gamma's protective core membrane was twice as thick as the Alpha's, requiring ten missiles to penetrate. The Zeta continues this trend. 20 missiles . . .

The Zeta was guarding a final upgrade for my power armor, Designation: Screw Attack. The ultimate expression of war by the Chozo, a total rejection of their culture and beliefs, the screw attack transforms the bearer into a living weapon. While airborne, the armor condenses half-way into morph ball and rotates violently, discharging electricity indiscriminately and destroying everything in the immediate vicinity, friend or foe, natural or artificial.

…

What it does to the bearer, half-way in and out of morph ball, is irrelevant.

It's perfect.

11 more.

 **Log 4,418**

With the screw attack, I've decimated the airborne predator population on the tower, ripping out their corruption.

 **Log 4,419**

Gamma Metroid spotted. It fled into a fissure near the cavern's roof. Target pursued and destroyed.

10.

 **Log 4,420**

Another Gamma attempted to flee.

9.

 **Log 4,421**

There is another Zeta. I've tracked it down to the cavern floor. It's running, but without the ability to fly, it doesn't have far to run.

 **Log 4,422**

8.

 **Log 4,423**

Earthquake. Pursuing.


	6. Phase VIII

**Phase VIII**

 **Log 4,424**

The tower was the Chozo's last stand, but it also stood as a final perimeter for another facility. Its purpose is difficult to determine in the structure's ruined state. The remains of wallfires and autraks are scattered across the perimeter. Investigating.

 **Log 4,425**

Significant temperature drop detected. There must be still functioning environmental controls somewhere. That they are even somewhat effective in the facility's current state suggests they were powerful and that whatever they were doing here required very low temperatures.

…

Metroids do not like the cold, yet scanner readings show they are here. Conclusive evidence they are fleeing in advance of my arrival. They are definitely communicating over distances.

Temperature continues to fall. Ice formations now present.

 **Log 4,426**

Found a gamma Metroid stuck in a drift of artificial snow. It cried out in alarm upon seeing me, possibly attempting to warn others. It attempted to flee, but the cold significantly hampers the Metroid nervous system, and it collapsed back into the snow, trembling.

…

…

7.

 **Log 4,427**

I understand now.

This place . . . it is a Chozo laboratory. Their records are fragmented, simple murals crafted in haste, many incomplete. And yet, their message is clear. A statue offers the Ice Beam, and around it the largest set of murals, tell the story of what happened here. The Chozo, they . . . found something down here. Even at the end they did not completely understand what they faced, but it must be designation X. Whatever it was, it corrupted the animals, turning them against the Chozo. For a time, they held it at bay by driving away the animals. At some point, it began to spread to the Chozo perimeter guards, turning them against the others. The Chozo implemented their more advanced defenses, and the uninfected Chozo fled before the mounting tide, but struggled to stop what remained of their former sisters. At last they retreated to their fortress to spend their lives to buy time for the work they did here.

They needed a weapon to destroy whatever had infected their fellows, one impervious to normal Chozo weaponry.

And so, they . . . they created one. The metroids are not native to SR-388. They're not native anywhere—they were created by the Chozo. Created by the Chozo… just like me.

Whatever the threat was, the Metroid counter-attack was devastating, totally destroying threat X. And then, suddenly, the metroids turned on the Chozo. Their carefully built-in weakness to the cold was an insufficient failsafe, and their creations utterly destroyed them.

…

I don't care who created them or why. My mission is to destroy them, so I will destroy them. They killed the Chozo, so I will destroy them.

 **Log 4,428**

Located two more zeta metroids, frozen to death. Five metroids remain. Their signal emanates from behind a large vault, its door torn open from the inside.

…

Holding pens.

Pursuing.

 **Log 4,429**

Though the holding pens' integrity has been compromised, exposing them to the surrounding environment, virtually no animal life is present. This suggests an active, even coordinated effort to drive off encroaching life forms. Such behavior indicates an instinctive need to guard an area.

Territorial instincts have been previously noted, but nothing to this extent. The only reason to drive off prey is defensive, not territorial. This type of specialized role and behavior is only beneficial to a community, not individual organisms. The implications are . . . troubling.

[warning: blunt force trauma detected.]

[warning: Power Suit energy low]

[warning: missile reserves low]

[WARNING: puncture wounds detected. Power Suit energy very low]

[warning: missile reserves critical]

 **Log 4,430**

I'm back in the tower restoring power and missile components. New threat analysis added: designation—omega Metroid. The omega is enormous, easily three meters in height. It appears to be the fully matured, adult stage of a metroid's life cycle. The vulnerable core has been completely covered in tough, chitinous plates. Large, fully articulable claws with two digits serve to spear prey and direct it into an oversized, circular mouth ringed by tusks that shrink into teeth deeper into the extendable jaws. The omega stands mostly upright, utilizing a fully developed tail for additional stability, though it can drop to all fours and utilize the spiked tip of the tail like a whip.

It is extremely aggressive, and varies attacks from a fully developed arsenal unpredictably, charging aggressively, attacking with claws, teeth, tail, and spitting both acid and a volatile, flammable substance from deeper in its throat. The exact method remains unclear, but somehow the Metroid ignites this fluid upon excreting it, turning into an effective biological flamethrower.

Claws, teeth, and tail spikes are sharp enough, and wielded with enough force, to penetrate Power Armor. This doesn't seem possible without a deliberate effort made to sharpen them, which suggests an even higher level of intelligence than previously speculated. Primitive tool usage?

Beam weapons are almost completely ineffective, even the ice beam, which may explain how the metroids initially broke containment. Only a heavy missile bombardment can penetrate and harm them.

Fortunately, for all its raw power, the omega is slow, approaching clumsy. After its initial ambush attack, it is possible to keep the omega at arm's length, continually falling back and targeting the chest area until the core is exposed and vulnerable.

Four . . . there are four more of them left. If their movement patterns remain consistent, they will all be omegas.

 **Log 4,431**

3\. Another omega destroyed. The area remains cleared of all other life forms. The only way two omegas could possibly survive in such close proximity, much less without readily available prey, is if food is being provided to them, brought in by lower forms of metroids. This suggests a very high level of cooperation, if not intelligence, as well as higher communication skills, than lower metroids have exhibited thus far. No mammalian communal groups to raise larva. The other possibility is that the coordination is done on a subconscious level. An insect-type pheromone system is unlikely, given the limited number of metroids and the range at which they operate. Purely inborn instinct is even less likely, given their rapidly adapting tactics.

…

The most likely conclusion is a central intelligence, a sort of limited hive mind. This also explains the retention of the species' most resource-intensive strains away from hunting activities and coopting lower strains to support them. They're guarding what must be their queen.

…

This remains speculation. More data required.

[warning: minor damage detected]

[warning: major damage detected. Power resources low]

[WARNING: major leg fracture detected]

[WARNING: power reserves critical]

 **Log 4,432**

2\. Two more.

I encountered another omega moving through a passageway and moved to engage. Once committed, another omega launched itself from deeper down the passage. I finished off the first, but the second closed the distance and clamp0ed its jaw on my right leg, breaking it in at least two places.

Holding me that close left its chest vulnerable, and after four missiles it dropped me instinctively, more surprised than hurt. I started to fall back, slow on my hands dragging a leg behind me, and . . .

The omega, it . . it just sat there. An apex predator, angered by a wound, with severely weakened prey in front of it, resisted every instinct, every biological imperative to defeat dangers and to feed, stood there and watched.

After a minute watching my slow retreat, it moved back and resumed its spot blocking the single remaining path at the back of the Chozo's holding pens.

It didn't follow me, didn't try to finish me . . .

The leg was no longer broken after entering and exiting morph ball. Evidence is conclusive that the Chozo's power armor is literally breaking down and rebuilding my body. It's clearly not doing so in the precise form it held before entering morph ball, both because it is rebuilding bones as whole and because I retain memories, which suggests it's reconstructing me based on a template, but what template is that? Which . . . which version of me? Until this point, I've suspected the lack of evident aging in my body was due to the Chozo DNA mixed into mine, and it was simply delayed. The Chozo were very long-lived. But this . . . if the template is not being updated, the power armor might be rebuilding me to the same form, the same ag, over and over again.

…

I don't know which thought disturbs me more—the metroid's restraint overcoming all instinctive prerogatives, showing me that the queen is not interested in fighting me, or the thought that I might be potentially immortal.

…

I currently find the fact that I am contemplating these thoughts while deep underground in a hostile environment while on a mission equally disturbing. This is not the mumbo's venom. This mission, this place… I will need to take some time later to think through this, to find whatever vulnerability this is and eliminate it. But for now, I will continue the mission.

I have to.

 **Log 4,433**

One. The omega, already wounded, refused to retreat or leave its position blocking the last corridor. It simply stood there while—

[untranslatable sound detected. 64% probability source is a wary cry of predator species.]

…

The queen. It must be, sensing the last of its children's deaths… fluctuation on sensors. More Metroid life signs detected? Many, and moving quickly. Larva. They must be. The queen is giving birth to new metroids. Need to move fast.

 **Log 4,434**

The larva metroids, newborns, attacked relentlessly despite being helpless before the ice beam. And yet, their attacks were uncoordinated, desperate—they were not being ordered or controlled. They fought to protect… to protect their mother. She… _it_ howled its pain and rage as each one fell. It will be enraged and dangerous, but overaggressive.

…

I will be cautious.

 **Log 4,435**

Queen located. She lies in the deepest chamber. I did not risk exposure by getting close, but some details were immediately clear. It is extremely large, over six meters high and between ten and twelve meters long. It lies on its stomach, largely covering its already well-protected core. Four double-articulated legs allow it at least moderate mobility. Armored plates protect its head, neck, back, and tail, while tough hide protects its underside. The long, spiked tail is wrapped protectively around what looks like eggs.

…

…

Moving to engage.

[warning: missile reserves lowering]

[warning: temperature ranges outside tolerable limits]

[warning: blunt force trauma detected to right side.]

[warning: heavy impact with environment detected. Minor bone fractures detected]

[warning: power armor energy low]

[warning: missile reserves low]

[warning: temperature ranges outside tolerable limits]

[warning: major blunt force trauma detected]

[WARNING: puncture wounds detected. Suit integrity compromised]

[warning: major environmental impact detected. Concussion detected]

[WARNING: operator non-responsive]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[automatic override activated. Moving operator away from detected threat]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[attempt— response detected. Relinquishing automatic override]

[verbal activity detected. No listener detected. Automatic log begins]

 **Log 4,436**

You… why are you… just standing there? Come . . . come get me. Chase me! Come . . . come on, do it, hate me. I'm . . . I've killed them all! Can't . . . can't you understand? I murdered your children! Hate me! HATE ME!

[operator movement detected towards critical threat. Unusual voice inflections detected. Risk of psychological compromise: high. Recommend retre—manual override engaged]

[warning: power armor energy very low]

[warning: missile reserves critical]

[warning: power suit subject to pressure well beyond tolerance limits. Several cracks detected. Multiple puncture wounds detected, consistent with teeth. Major internal damage detected. Recommend immediate morph ball activation]

[warning: acid detected. Unable to disengage morph ball due to confined space. Impediments a 79% match for Metroid internal bone structure]

[manual override engaged—activation of all remaining bombs in three seconds]

[warning: detonation will exceed power suit tolerance levels. Scavenging reserve energy from all non-critical systems]

[warning: brace for impact in three, two, o—

…

…

…

[Power Armor 3729146: system reset complete]

[warning: catastrophic power loss detected. Commencing system scan]

[warning: power level critical

[warning: temporary memory corrupted. Access to backup memory temporarily disabled]

[warning: missiles depleted]

[warning: morph ball capability disabled]

[warning: operator non-responsive]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[attempting to revive—no response]

[warning: one Metroid life sign detected. Class: larva. Distance: point blank range]

[status: processing… processing… processing… Metroid life form designated: non-hostile]

[warning: operator response detected]

[verbal activity detected. No subject detected. Automatic log begins]

 **Log 0001**

Come… come on. Finish it… finish… me. Please… attack me. Make me do it. Don't… don't you understand? I killed… killed her, killed them all… Don't look at me… like that… I'm not your mother! Don't make me… me do that… to you…

I… I just… can't.

No… no more.

Not like this.

[manual override enacted]

[Metroid life signs reset to: 0 metroids]

[internal program trigger met. Playing message]

Congratulations, Ms. Aran. You have eliminated a dangerous, aggressive threat to the entire galaxy. The promised funds are being transferred to your account now. Mission accomplished.

[message ends]

[rerouting all remaining weapon power to navigation systems]

[plotting course to surface. Plotting… plotting… plotting… Course set]

[operator movement detected]

[revising estimates to conform with demonstrated mobility limitations]

[estimated arrival at surface: 3 days, 17 hours]

[manual override enacted: suspending all system logs to conserve power]

[log ends]


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Major Wrakham sat back in his chair, his thoughts running quickly. He needed to focus, needed to ignore the startlingly personal logs of that mission and think only about what was important.

While Samus' mission had been impressive in terms of her raw perseverance, what was even more impressive had been her understanding and analysis in reconstructing what had happened years, perhaps even decades or centuries earlier. That threat X . . .

Could that be it? It seemed to fit. This parasite, it infected biological material and commandeered it, copying it. Yes, the first threat would be from animal life. And then the Chozo warriors sent out to combat them would be infected, causing the Chozo to make their weapons fire on their own kind. And the Metroids… the Metroids were created to fight this parasite. There could be something there. If they managed to make some sort of antidote or injection…

He reached out and picked up his phone to see if the science team still had some of the Metroid material Samus had brought back hidden away somewhere.


End file.
